ATMORE, Ala. – Lara Cecchetti singled in a run in the top of the eighth inning to give Blinn College softball a 2-1 victory Feb. 7 over Gulf Coast State College in the opening game of the day of the 2015 Creek Indian JUCO Classic in Atmore, Ala.
The victory over Gulf Coast was the lone bright spot of the day as Blinn followed that up with a 4-3 loss to Georgia Perimeter College and a 3-2 loss to Chattanooga State Community College. The Buccaneers finished the day 1-2 and left the two-day tournament with a 2-4 record to push their overall record to 6-5.
Blinn dug itself a hole early when Gulf Coast added a run in the opening inning but a little run support finally came for Gibson in the fifth inning. Carley Latta was able to hit a sacrifice fly to score Courtney White to knot the game in the fifth.
It took an extra inning to settle this game as Cecchetti singled with the bases loaded to right to score Meghann Wrinkle for the game-winning run.
Blinn had a 3-2 lead in its second game against Georgia Perimeter but was unable to maintain that lead in a 4-3 loss. Spivey, Cecchetti and Tori Gleason each had two hits in the game and Jordan Wilkins hit a home run but the Buccaneers still fell.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first inning, Blinn came back to tie the game in the second. Gleason was able to knock in a run with a single to center to knot the game at 1-1.
Blinn fell behind 2-1 in the third but the Buccaneers roared right back with a solo home run from Wilkins to even the game at 2-2. White was able to score later in the inning to give Blinn a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, that would be the final run scored by Blinn as Georgia Perimeter scored single runs in the fifth and sixth to seal the 4-3 victory.
Blinn ended up on the wrong end of a extra inning contest as it fell 3-2 to Chattanooga State to conclude the tournament. Wilkins and Jazzmin Fritz each picked up two hits in the loss while Gibson didn’t allow an earned run but was still saddled with the loss due to five Buccaneer errors.
Blinn fell behind early when Chattanooga scored a run in the first and it took until the sixth inning to tie the game. Fritz singled to begin the sixth and later came around to score to level the game at 1-1.
Blinn fell behind again in the seventh with a single run from Chattanooga but Seeley Orsak singled with two outs and then came around to score to knot the game at 2-2. Chattanooga got the better of Blinn in the extra inning with a single run that was enough to earn the victory.
Blinn will continue play next weekend in the San Jacinto College Tournament Feb. 14-15 as it will begin play against Wallace State Community College-Hanceville in Houston at 12:15 p.m.
Blinn has competed in intercollegiate athletics since 1903 and captured 30 NJCAA national championships since 1987. For more information, visit www.buccaneersports.com.
